Paradise
by Love2KatieCassidy
Summary: Nikolas and Emily finally reunite... in heaven. The concept sounds strange, true, but give it a chance please!


**Paradise**

 _ **This is a short fic about Nikolas and Emily in well, paradise (aka heaven). It might sound odd but I think you will love it.**_

 _ **In heaven, Emily and Nikolas are reunited with each other and a host of other beloved GH characters, such as Baby Lila (who is 12 up there), Alan and more!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Reunited**

He arrived on a boat of some kind. He had drifted along still, quiet, clear blue waters for what seemed like endless days but he wasn't seasick; he wasn't hungry; he wasn't thirsty. He just … _was._

He had spent ages in a very dark, very polluted, and very ugly place. How long he was in that putrid darkness, he wasn't sure, but he'd been amazed and humbled when the shackles that had bound him had fallen away as if by their own volition, and he was transported as if by some magic to this boat for a long, leisurely trip to wherever he was now.

The bow of the boat bumped lightly against a barge and he looked around before disembarking and standing on docks that seemed all too familiar. This place … It looked an awful lot like Port Charles. He even saw that old scarred phone booth no one ever used right where he remembered it being before he had died. He _had_ died, right? This wasn't just some dream. It _felt_ like a dream but he couldn't entirely be sure.

"Hello?" He called out, though he saw no one, heard no one and nothing but a soft rustling in the wind, and the feel of warmth enveloping him. _"Hello?"_ For some reason, he expected someone to appear. He just felt someone was waiting for him.

He looked from one end of the docks to the other. No one was around. Not a soul, but suddenly he felt a presence behind him. He whirled around and the wetness dried on his tongue.

 _"_ _Alan?"_ He asked in disbelief as the big man stood before him in a pressed black business suit. "I must be dreaming." He cupped his head. "No, the tumor's back. The tumor must be back."

"Your tumor hasn't returned, Nikolas," Alan said in that rich baritone of his. "There are no tumors here; there is no sickness, no illness … Just peace, just tranquility…"

"Alright… But how are you alive right now? How are we talking?"

"Because we're not alive. We are in The Good Place."

"The _what?"_ Nikolas rubbed his forehead again. He expected to feel a thudding ache there but there was nothing. In fact, physically, he felt stronger than he ever had before.

"Heaven, Paradise…" Alan went on. "Nikolas, you are dead. As dead as I am."

"What?" Nikolas shook his head. "No. No, I can't be."

"Do you remember what happened with your uncle Valentin Cassadine?"

"Yes, but …"

"You died on that day, NIkolas."

"If so, then why am I standing on the docks in a place that looks so much like Port Charles? Why don't I feel… dead?"

"In heaven, you go to the place - a facsimile really - of the place you felt most at home. The place you most identify with. Like it was for me, Port Charles is that place."

"Can others see us?"

"Only ones like us," Alan said.

Nikolas's eyes went wide and he felt his heart start beating fast - racing like a speedboat. _"_ _Emily!"_ he cried out. "Emily! Is she here too? Alan, is Emily in this place? Tell me, please! If she's here, I need to see her. I need her so much…"

XoXoXo

"He's here, _he's here!"_ The shouted, excited words of twelve-year-old girl reached her ears, echoing throughout the great house. "Emily, did you hear me?" The young girl asked, racing into Emily's quarters.

Emily nodded, looking over at Lila Corinthos Morgan, or as she was simply called around here, Li. "I heard you," she whispered in a slightly breathless voice.

"Then why aren't you down at the welcoming spot?" Lila asked, cocking her pretty head to the side in questioning confusion. "I know you want to see him. It's all you've been dreaming about since you got here."

"I know," Emily said. "I guess I just needed a moment to process everything."

"You're worried." It wasn't a question. "You're worried he won't be happy to see you."

"Stop reading my thoughts," Emily gently chastised her. "I told you, I don't like it."

"Sorry," Li said though her apology didn't ring true. "But if it helps, I read his mind too and you're all he's been thinking about. He's asked Grandpa Alan if you're here. He wants to see you so badly."

Emily smiled weakly and turned around, looking into the glistening, full-length white-framed mirror before her. She looked just the same as she had in life, but would he truly like what he saw? Did he really still love her? There had been other women since she had died and while she was glad - no, happy - that he had not been alone, she wondered if there truly was a place in his heart left for her.

"You're worrying for nothing, Aunt Emily," Li said. "You're all he's been thinking about, all he's been dreaming about since forever. When he was in The Dark Place, you were the only thing holding him together, keeping him sane. He would picture you in his mind's eye, endlessly running memories of your life together over and over though his head so he could make it through another cold, painful night. It wasn't any of those other women he dreamt of ... It was you. It's always been you, don't you see that?"

"Li..."

"Come on. Let's go. I really want to meet my cousin. I know he did some horrible things to my mom and Daddy Jason but I bet he's sorry now and I just want to know what he's really like. You've told me so many stories about him but I want to see if he lives up to the man, _the myth."_

Emily's lips twitched in a smile. "He's wonderful. Yes, he's made a lot of mistakes but so have I. No one is perfect, Li - not even you," she teased.

"Hey, I resent that," Li said but she was grinning. A strand of pearls suddenly materialized in her tiny hand. "Here, put these on."

"What - why?"

"Because your long neck is your best feature. No harm in looking extra pretty when you see your beloved." She shoved the strand into Emily's hand. "But hurry up, okay? I really am anxious to see Nikolas. I want him to tell me more about my parents. Come on, come on!" She chanted.

"Okay, okay," Emily said. She lifted her long, curly chestnut locks and slid the cool pearls around her throat. She affixed the clasp and looked at herself. She was wearing a pink princess gown. She knew Nikolas had always loved it when she dressed up. He had always loved her no matter what she wore though. God willing, he still did.

"No more hesitating," Li said and grabbed her hand. "Destiny awaits." She then forcefully yanked Emily into the ether.

XoXoXo

"Alan, please," Nikolas pleaded. "Tell me … Is Emily here? Can I see her? I know I've made a lot of mistakes. I regret every single one of them, believe me. I was in He-"

"We don't say that word here," Alan quickly cut him off. "We call it The Dark Place, purgatory, or even Outer Darkness."

"That's what it was... Darkness all around, no light, no warmth. Nights that went on seemingly forever. Lashings, beatings, and feeling the full weight of every awful thing I've ever done. The guilt ate me up and the only thing that kept me going was thinking about Emily, remembering her, hoping if I really was dead that I'd get to see her somehow. Now that I am here, now that I know I'm really dead and in 'The Good Place', I have to know if I can see her. Because this isn't heaven, this isn't paradise, if my wife isn't here with me."

"I'm here, Nikolas," a feminine voice suddenly floated up to meet his ears from somewhere nearby. A voice that he would know anywhere, a voice he had longed to hear again but he had somehow never expected to. He wasn't good enough, he wasn't kind and gentle. She was everything that was pure, everything that was beautiful and true. He was almost afraid to turn around, afraid that she would be disappointed in him, disappointed in all of the things he had done since she disappeared from his life.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He'd know that touch anywhere. "Emily," he said in a hoarse voice. He slowly turned around and stared into her eyes. One look at her and tears flooded his own eyes. "Emily!" He reached for her, praying he could touch her, praying he could hold her. When his arms locked around her, when he felt her familiar, lithe figure in his arms, a little sob burbled up on his lips. "I can feel you, Em. How can I - how is this possible?"

Tears were running down Emily's beautiful face to match his. "Because you made it here, with me. I wanted you to keep living - I wanted you to have a long life with a woman you loved and with your son Spencer, but-"

"It wasn't living, Emily. It was existing. I didn't have a life without you."

"Oh that's so romantic," a little voice said off to the side somewhere. Nikolas tore his eyes from Emily briefly to see a petite girl standing there, clasping her hands together. A dreamy look was on her face. She looked like a carbon copy of Sam, his cousin. The one he had betrayed over and over...

"This is all so surreal, so unbelievable. Are you -?"

"Sam's daughter Lila?" The girl said. She nodded and an errant lock of black hair escaped her jaunty ponytail. "Yes, but everyone calls me 'Li'. It's nice to finally meet you, Cousin Nikolas."

"Likewise," Nikolas said. He turned back to Emily and cupped her teary face in his hands. "Is this really not a dream? Is Lila - I mean, Li - here? Is Alan? _Are you?_ Tell me you're here, Emily. Tell me I really am holding you in my arms and I'm not going to wake up and all of this is going to be gone."

"You're not dreaming, Nikolas. You're here, with me. If you still want-"

"I want it all. I want this. With you. I want you."

"Oh, Nik…"

"Kiss her! Kiss her!" Li cried. "KISS HER!"

Nikolas looked at Emily's full, luscious lips. "Am I allowed to do that here?"

"YES!" Li cried out in excitement, clapping her hands. "It's heaven. And Emily is-"

"My paradise," Nikolas whispered huskily. He leaned close to Emily and kissed her on the lips. It was passionate and sweet and like coming home all at once. He didn't want to stop but Alan loudly cleared his throat.

Emily and Nikolas laughed. "Sorry, Dad," she murmured.

Alan smiled a little. "Understandable. You've missed each other."

"I have missed her so much," Nikolas agreed. He traced the curve of her chin with his fingers. "I love you, Emily Quartermaine. I love you so much. I can hardly believe this… I've dreamed about this moment but never thought it would come."

Emily smiled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I am just glad it did. Nikolas, there's something I'd like to show you. Or someone actually that I want you to meet."

"Alright…"

"So we'll talk another time, I guess," Li said.

Alan took Li's tiny fingers in his paw-like hand. "Come on, honey. You've got an eternity to get to know Nikolas. Right now, they need this time to themselves."

"Aww alright," Li said. She smiled at them and then disappeared into a white cloud with Alan.

Nikolas and Emily chuckled. "She seems great," Nikolas said. "A lot like Sam."

"Yes, she is."

"I hurt my cousin. I hurt her so badly…"

"I know," Emily said. "But I feel in my heart somehow that she has forgiven you. Now all you can do is forgive yourself."

"I'll try," Nikolas said. He gazed into her eyes. "Tell me I can kiss you again."

"Please do."

Nikolas lightly cupped the back of her head and drew her impossibly close. His lip found hers and they stood there kissing for the longest time, lost in each other - lost in happiness.

They only stopped kissing when Nikolas felt a gentle tugging on his sleeve. He looked down to see a young boy with dark eyes staring up at him. "Hello," he said. "And who might you be?"

Emily smiled at Nikolas and then the young boy. "Nikolas, this is who I wanted you to meet. His name is Lucien … He's our son."

 **To be continued.**


End file.
